Reviewed and updated October 9, 2026 by the SearchSystems.net editorial team. The arrest counts are the ones each agency reported to the FBI, as the FBI held them on October 8, 2026. The jail figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data. Every office link was opened and checked against the office's own site between September 24, 2026 and September 30, 2026.
Dakota County, Nebraska, has about 21,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate). A person kept in custody after an arrest in Dakota County is held at the county jail, run by the Dakota County Sheriff's Office, and the jail's record of each person held is a public record. This guide says where to look for someone in custody, what the jail holds and who books people into it.
This guide covers the search, the jail, who books people, state prison and common questions.
Related guides: Dakota County public records, Dakota County arrest records, Dakota County warrants, Dakota County criminal records, Dakota County court records, Nebraska arrest records and Nebraska inmate search.
Finding Someone in Custody in Dakota County
The county jail, run by the Dakota County Sheriff's Office, holds everyone kept in custody after an arrest in Dakota County, from every agency.
SearchSystems opened and checked the jail page of the Dakota County Sheriff's Office at dakotacosheriffne.org (page title: Dakota County Sheriff's Office), phone 402-987-2170, 701 W. 29th Street South Sioux City, NE 68776, Mon-Fri 10:30 a.m. - 7:00 p.m., which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 28, 2026.
That page is the office's jail information page rather than a roster, so a search for a particular person goes through the office at 402-987-2170.
The Dakota County Jail by the Numbers
On an average day in 2019 the jail held about 110 people. Its rated capacity in 2019 was 136 beds, and it ran at 83 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
Dakota County has about 21,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), so the jail holds about 53 people for every 10,000 residents.
Who Books People Into the Dakota County Jail
The Dakota County Sheriff's Office and the agency that reports for South Sioux City make the arrests that end in a booking in Dakota County.
The FBI's agency list also places one more agency in Dakota County: the State Patrol in Dakota County (state police).
The Emerson Police Department is listed by the FBI across three counties including Dakota County, so its arrests are not broken out for Dakota County here.
The largest arrest counts reported to the FBI were South Sioux City's 457 for 2025 and the Dakota County Sheriff's Office's 316 for 2025.
Together, the two agencies in Dakota County with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 773 arrests to the FBI that year. Those kept in custody were booked into the county jail; a person cited and released at the scene was not.
The counts, agency by agency and year by year, are in Dakota County arrest records.
From the Jail to State Prison
A sentence of more than a year is served in state prison, not the jail; the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services lists its inmates at dcs-inmatesearch.ne.gov/Corrections/COR_input.jsp.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I find an inmate in Dakota County?
Ask the Dakota County Sheriff's Office at 402-987-2170; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at dakotacosheriffne.org.
How many people are in the Dakota County jail?
About 110 on an average day in 2019, the latest year in the Vera Institute's jail data, against a rated capacity of 136 beds.
What is the phone number for the Dakota County jail?
402-987-2170, the number on the page of the Dakota County Sheriff's Office SearchSystems verified.
Where do people sentenced to prison in Dakota County go?
To a facility of the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services; its inmate locator is at dcs-inmatesearch.ne.gov.
Is this the official Dakota County website?
No. SearchSystems.net is an independent public records guide, online since 1997. It links to the official county, court and state offices described above and does not hold records, charge for them or take requests.